GAME 9: Penn State at Northwestern

Sorry about the delay today. Kind of embarrassing, but I forgot my password for the blog and had to look for it in e-mail. Strange, but they changed the password on me when we switched over the blog formats, and I guess I needed to have it to get into both the Yankees and Penn State blogs. Oh well. We’re underway.

So far, this is about what you’d expect. Northwestern makes very few mistakes, and Penn State didn’t capitalize on the first one, the fumble by Kafka inside their own 30. Collin Wagner’s field goal made it 3-0, but that’s not good enough there.

Northwestern is getting those receivers open on the edges, and it will be interesting to see how the Penn State defense adjusts. We saw a start like this against Michigan last week, and the defense dominated the game after making an adjustment. This is a bit of a different scheme, but it will be interesting to see if the Penn State defense can figure something out here to take the game over again.

UPDATE, 5:11: Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think there has been a situation this season where Penn State has played six defensive backs. They’ve relied on the extra corner (Timmons) and an outside linebacker to cover obvious passing downs. The problem is, that’s exactly what Northwestern wants. They’re getting receivers and running backs on Sean Lee and Josh Hull, and they’re running free on those short crossing routes. They’re going to have to suck it up and play Stephon Morris and get Lee out of there. This has been way too easy for Northwestern so far.

UPDATE, 5:16: I think they’re going to rule Shuler down.

UPDATE, 5:20: Big drive upcoming for the Penn State defense. They don’t want Northwestern to be up 17-3. Especially if the Nittany Lions aren’t going to pick up 3rd-and-1s today.

UPDATE, 5:27: Lucky play on the punt by Demos. Ninety-nine percent of the time, that play is a disaster. This time, the desperation leads to something good. An absolutely huge turn of events there. Penn State would have the ball in the red zone. But Northwestern gets nine yards and a first down. The fates haven’t been on Penn State’s side so far today.

UPDATE, 5:30: Dan Persa was a really terrific quarterback out of Bethlehem, Pa. But why do you take Kafka out there? Might be an injury situation.

UPDATE, 5:34: Looks like a left leg problem of some kind for Kafka. It would be a shame if he’s out. Penn State could use a really good test going into next week’s game against those guys from Columbus.

UPDATE, 5:41: Penn State failed to pick up two third-and-shorts on their last two drives. Then, they just went 93 yards in seven plays and never faced a third down. This isn’t your father’s Penn State team, for sure. Daryll Clark either threw or ran every time on that drive. When this team has its back to the wall, it is always going to be Clark that is asked to get them out of it. He’s so good, he can make up for a lot of deficiencies.

UPDATE, 5:46: Northwestern should kick the field goal here. Go into the locker room with the lead. Give your young quarterback some confidence.

And, here comes Demos.

UPDATE, 5:47: And up goes Odrick to block it. Nice break for the Lions.

UPDATE, 5:48: That’s the second ball Zug should have had and didn’t. He’s a better player than that.

UPDATE, 5:58: Well, that couldn’t have been much worse a first half. The story is that Northwestern has been able to sustain drives (thanks to the substitution penalty and the crazy punt play), and Penn State has not. Maybe they got caught looking ahead a little bit. But whatever it is, the running game needs to wake up.

UPDATE, 6:25: Penn State would be OK if it took advantage of the chances Northwestern has given it. Zug has two dropped passes that would have been big plays. They can’t convert on third-and-1. They can’t capitalize on really good field position. Northwestern’s defense deserves some credit, because those guys are getting tough. But this is about Penn State and missed opportunities right now.

UPDATE, 6:30: Add “Late hit on a third-and-long” to that list. I know he’s a freshman, but Stephon Morris can’t make that mistake.

UPDATE, 6:39: Everything bad that can happen for Penn State is happening at the absolute worst time.

UPDATE, 6:41: Won’t be too long before Northwestern starts believing it can win this game. Even with its backup quarterback in.

UPDATE, 6:57: I get the feeling that a three-and out might effectively end this game here.

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